Jaina's Drunken Night
by NarundiJedi
Summary: A little "What if" AU of Jaina as she goes a little wild one crazy night. ;) please r/r!
1. Time to Party

Brodey dragged the sleeve of his shirt across his forehead, picking up a mixture of sweat and grease that had been collecting there during the past hour. Stepping back, he examined his work on the ship's fuselage. He crept around the XJ-wing, tightening bolts with his multitool. When he was certain that everything passed his inspection he threw down the tools, removed his grimy shirt, and went to wash up.   
  
When he was halfway back to his quarters Brodey remembered his promise to Jaina that he'd stop by later that evening. Such requests of hers puzzled him, since he was sure she'd rather be spending time with Jagged Fel. However, Brodey wasn't about to question a goddess.   
  
As he approached her small apartment his ears picked up the sounds of loud conversation and music emanating from inside. Brodey felt a pang of annoyance and turned to walk away, not wanting to barge in and interrupt another make out session between her and Fel. He was almost at the end of the hall when he realized that Kyp was also a part of the conversation coming from inside. Brodey scratched his head as he wondered if Jaina could possibly be rude enough to get amorous with Jag right in front of Kyp.   
  
'Not unless she wanted to get a lot of well-deserved, off-color comments,' Brodey thought as he turned back around and entered her living room.   
  
It only took a split second for his eyes to adjust to the bright living room. That split second marked the delay between his entrance and his hand going up to his mouth to hide his smirk.   
  
"Brodey! You decided to come and join us!" Jaina cried jovially over the music. In her hand was a decanter of Corellian whiskey, which she spilled onto the floor as she climbed clumsily to her feet. She ran over to throw her arms around Brodey, the strong stench of alcohol oozing from her like a bad perfume. "Kyp! Brodey's here! Look!"   
  
"Yes Jaina, I can see him too," Kyp said, casting a worn expression at Brodey. This party had been going on for a good amount of time, from the looks of it.   
  
"So, what's the occasion?" Brodey asked, raising his eyebrows at Jaina as she clung to his sleeve to stand upright. Jaina's eyes immediately darkened in response to his question and her lower lip began to quiver slightly.   
  
'Great job, Narundi. Great bloody tact right there!' He thought furiously at himself as she burst into tears. He chided himself for not recognizing the red rims around her eyes before he opened his mouth.   
  
"Don't worry about upsetting her," Kyp muttered, resting his head against the back of her overstuffed couch. "She's been going back and forth between emotional extremes all evening."   
  
"Jaina, what happened?" Brodey questioned simply, enveloping her in his arms.   
  
"Oh nothing. Except that Jag Fel is a great big jerk!" She cried, spinning awkwardly on her heel and spilling more whiskey in the process. Brodey looked questioningly at Kyp, who promptly rolled his eyes and rose from his seat.   
  
"Jag left today to go back to his family. He made a promise to Shawnkyr that he would return to the Chiss if she were to die. I've been trying to explain this to Jaina, but she just won't let it go."   
  
"He didn't even tell me where he was going! He left, just like that!" Howled Jaina angrily. "Why is it that all the people I care about keep on leaving? Somebody, explain to me why!"   
  
Brodey felt an all-too-familiar heat begin to creep up his neck and cover his face. Anger flashed through him like a star going nova, causing his muscles to tense and his jaw to set. All he could do for a minute was stare at her, afraid of what he might do to her if he allowed himself to move from that spot.

"Well," Brodey said, finally managing to squeeze a word out. "I guess, since I'm still standing here listening to you go on about how everyone you care about is gone, I can assume that I'm not a part of that group. I guess you don't care too much about Kyp either, huh Jaina? How does it feel to be Jaina's man slave, Kyp?"   
  
"Keep me out of this!" Kyp exclaimed, waving a hand of dismissal at his seething apprentice. "This argument is between the two of you."   
  
Brodey turned back to Jaina, who had suddenly turned into a near mirror image of his own emotional state. She held the decanter at her side in a death grip, the knuckles of both hands turning pale. Her blazing russet eyes narrowed into slits as she lunged at him in an ungainly manner.

** Return to Jaina's Drunken Night main page**


	2. Booting

"You stinking son of a worm-ridden whore!" She cried, her rage hitting Brodey with more force than he'd expect from a drunkard. "I hate you!"   
  
A brief vision of his dead mother's body infested by countless larvae flashed though Brodey's mind, causing him to suck in air at her off-color comment. His skin itched with the urge to claw her to miniscule pieces. Only the knowledge that she was farther gone than any other drunk he'd seen before prevented him from acting on his impulses.   
  
Instead he absorbed the energy from the force shove she gave him and used it to slam her against the wall where he had been standing. The decanter she'd been holding tumbled to the floor and he saw Jaina flinch as it shattered.   
  
"I'm warning you, Solo. If you talk about my mother like that again I won't even hesitate in killing you." Brodey hissed in a near whisper. "Got that?"   
  
The anger vanished suddenly as a dull sensation entered his brain. Before he could shake it off he found himself being pulled away from her by Kyp.   
  
"Hot Vong, Kyp! Didn't I tell you not to mess with me like that?" Brodey muttered, slightly annoyed but no where near as angry as before.   
  
"That's enough. Can't you see she's in a compromised state right now? You didn't need to lay into her like that." Kyp retorted, his voice taking on a fatherly quality.   
  
"Sorry about that, Kyp," Brodey said quietly, brushing his shaggy bangs out of his eyes with one hand.   
  
"Tell her that," The jedi master grumbled, gesturing over to where the young woman sat slumped against the wall. She was gazing at a bloody gash on her shin in horror.   
  
"Jaina, I'm so sorry!" Brodey cried, suddenly feeling like an insensitive fool. He had been so overcome by anger that he didn't care for a second whether he hurt her. However, he regretted it instantly, as he had with every other person he'd hurt with his anger. Brodey walked hastily over to her, wanting nothing more than to soothe her and remove the expression of sickening pain from her face.   
  
_'Sickening?'_ Brodey thought questioningly. _'Gods, I hope that doesn't mean she's going to---'_   
  
His thoughts were answered quickly as Jaina gave a vile belch and vomited all over his boots. He stood there, nodding his head and chewing his lower lip as she emptied the contents of her stomach onto him.   
  
"Brodey. . ." She gasped, gazing up at him with unfocused eyes. "I'm so sorry about that!"   
  
He couldn't tell if it was from the earnest tone of her voice or the ridiculous situation, but something stirred deep inside of Brodey. It was a feeling that had been apparently dormant for the past two years, and he didn't even recognize it until a genuine fit of laughter burst forth from his lips. It began with a simple snort but gradually built up to the point where he was red in the face. He felt compelled to double over, if not for the pungent aroma at his feet.   
  
"I'm so glad I decided to wear knee-high boots today!" Brodey panted in between laughs. "Guess that's what I get for pissing off a goddess!"   
  
A look of relief washed over Jaina, followed by what looked like another wave of nausea. Kyp pulled her to her feet and hurried her into the fresher. Brodey followed closely behind, still admiring his boots in awe.

** Return to Jaina's Drunken Night Main Page**


	3. Taking Care of a Goddess

"You know, I'm actually kind of glad you booted on me," He muttered as he stuck a leg into the showering unit and turned it on full blast. "No pun intended, of course."   
  
He thought he could make out a weak smile on Jaina's face as she slowly lifted her head from the toilet bowl she'd been hugging.   
  
"Booted? That's a new one," Kyp said with a grin. The jedi master was crouched alongside Jaina, holding back a handful of her hair.   
  
"Just another slang term we had back home," Brodey explained, pulling a drenched leg from the shower and carefully sticking the other one in. Finally determining that he was going to be soaked no matter what, Brodey sighed and stepped in entirely.   
  
"I like it!" Jaina declared rather loudly, and Brodey poked his head out of the shower to see her grinning widely at him.   
  
_'Good to see she's maintaining a sense of humor through all of this,'_ He thought with a smirk.   
  
_'We'll see if she still thinks it's so funny come tomorrow morning,'_ Kyp thought back.   
  
_'Damn it, Durron, stay out of my head!'_ Brodey thought, sending a spike of annoyance in Kyp's direction.   
  
_'Quit thinking so loudly,'_ Kyp simply replied.   
  
Brodey emerged from the shower, his boots squelching as he walked back out to the living room.   
  
"Where do you think you're going? You're not just going to leave her with me, are you?" Kyp called out to him.   
  
"Sadly, no. Though you do deserve it for allowing her to drink so much," Brodey snapped back. "I'm changing back into my work clothes. At least they're relatively dry."   
  
"Relatively? Brodey, you better not smell even worse when you come back in here! I don't think I could take it," Kyp groaned.   
  
"What's the matter, Kyp? Smell getting to you?" Brodey grinned, suddenly popping back through the door. His footwear had been discarded rather quickly, leaving him barefoot. He stood there in what looked like a pair of jumpsuit pants that had been cut off at the knee. Kyp wrinkled his nose as the smell of sweat from Brodey's clothes wafted toward him. "Need a break?"   
  
Kyp nodded and gratefully relinquished his position next to Jaina. She didn't seem to notice or care about any smell coming from Brodey, as she was still very engrossed in her own activities.

** Return to Jaina's Drunken Night main page**


	4. Storytelling

After Kyp had gone he turned back to her, giving her shoulder a playful squeeze.   
  
"How's it going, champ? You all right?" He asked, flashing an encouraging smile.   
  
"Fine," Jaina said simply. "I don't mind the vomiting. It's just that I get this feeling like drinking isn't helping me feel any better."   
  
"You're a real genius when you're drunk!" Brodey exclaimed, bursting into another fit of laughter.   
  
"You! You're making fun of me, aren't you?" Jaina cried, her cheeks flushing a deeper crimson than they'd previously been.   
  
"Me? Make fun of you? Never!" He exclaimed with mock solemnity. "Seriously though, alcohol is never a good way to make the pain stop. Had to learn that the hard way."   
  
"Really? I thought you didn't drink," Jaina slurred, languidly cocking her head to the side.   
  
"I don't anymore, and for a very good reason," Brodey muttered, his expression turning grim. He just stared keenly at her for a period of time, although Jaina couldn't be sure if he was staring at her or straight through her.   
  
Finally he snorted, as if he was waking from a deep sleep, and a smile tugged at one of the corners of his mouth.   
  
"Heh, if you think I'm infuriating now, you haven't even seen the beginning of how bad I can be," He said, his eyes sparking mischievously.   
  
"Oh, come on! I don't think you're infuriating!" Jaina chided, giving him a small shove.   
  
"Admit it. You want to kill me half the time I open my mouth," Brodey argued childishly.   
  
"No, I don't. It's just that you take a lot of getting used to. You've got all these things about yourself that you keep hidden, and each time I stumble upon one it's almost like stepping right onto a seismic charge," She said, shivering a little as she spoke.   
  
"That's precisely why I keep most of them hidden. Some things are safer when kept secret," Brodey said softly, furrowing his brow.   
  
"Ah, but I'm your commanding officer. I could order you to tell me these secrets," Jaina cried eagerly, raising her voice to a level that grated against Brodey's sensitive ears.   
  
"I doubt you'd remember any of it even if I told you," He laughed, shaking his head. "I should have Kyp get you some water and a blanket."   
  
"Thanks. You seem like you've done this before."   
  
"Occasionally. This sort of thing happened when friends thought they could keep up with me. I ended up playing nursemaid to most of them," Brodey explained. He craned his neck to see Kyp enter with a pint glass of water and a blanket from the back of her couch. The young jedi master looked haggard, the increasing lines on his face showing testament of his age. He handed the items over to Brodey and then leaned against the doorframe.   
  
"You should go and get some sleep, Kyp. You look half dead," Brodey said, shaking Kyp from his daze while wrapping the blanket around Jaina's shoulders.   
  
"Wow Kyp! There are two of you!" Jaina shouted, a huge smile strewn across her face.   
  
"Hey, calm down and drink this, slowly," Brodey instructed.   
  
"Are you sure you can handle all this? She still seems pretty tipsy," Kyp observed, looking concerned.   
  
"Yeah, don't worry about it! She'll be fine!" Brodey said, flashing Kyp his most reassuring smile.   
  
Kyp walked slowly from the fresher to the front door. Brodey thought he'd already left until a fleeting thought entered his head.   
  
_'She better be, Narundi. If she's not, if ANYTHING happens to her, I don't care if you're the better fighter of the two of us or not. I WILL hurt you.'_   
  
The thought abruptly ended with the slamming of the front door. He couldn't help but smile at Kyp's protective remark, but he determined immediately that Kyp wasn't joking about one thing. He wouldn't hesitate in hurting Brodey if anything happened that harmed Jaina.   
  
"Glad to know how much I'm trusted," Brodey whispered.

** Return to Jaina's Drunken Night main page**


	5. Talking it Out

"What did you say?" Jaina asked.   
  
"Nothing," Brodey replied, shaking his head. "So, feeling any better?"   
  
"A little. At least I don't feel so sick and dizzy anymore," She said with a sigh.   
  
"That's good to hear. You're still not going anywhere until you can only see one of me," He quipped with a wink.   
  
"Fair enough. So, what do you think we should do to pass the time?"   
  
"Pin the tail on the gundark?" Brodey suggested after a long pause.   
  
"You're quite the joker, aren't you?" Jaina laughed hoarsely as she handed the glass of water back to Brodey. "I think you should tell me secrets about yourself that I'm not going to remember in the morning!"   
  
"All right, I'll let you in on a few of them," He said abruptly, peaking her interest. "I'm the crown prince of the entire galaxy that I came from. I've also been a male model, caused the deaths of at least as many people as Kyp, and have a hoard of bounty hunters out looking for me."   
  
Jaina stared at him after he'd finished, looking awestruck from what she'd just heard tumble out of his mouth. Then she busted out laughing, hiccupped loudly, and then laughed and hiccupped in conjunction.   
  
"You have a good sense of - hic - humor, Narundi. I like that."   
  
"I aim to please," Brodey said in a dignified tone, showing her as much of a bow as he could while seated. He smiled inwardly to himself since he knew that everything he'd told her was indeed the truth. She just found it all too ridiculous to believe.

"If you don't mind too much we could talk about something more important than the sordid details of my past," He suggested, smiling wryly.   
  
"Oh? And what – hic – could you possibly have in mind?" She asked, raising her eyebrows at him.   
  
"How about you tell me why you found it necessary to get so wasted."   
  
Jaina stared at him coldly, almost defiantly. He could sense the Solo stubbornness rolling off of her in waves and he imagined what looked like a durasteel wall being erected between them.   
  
"I already told you, Narundi. Jag acted like a jerk and I got angry," Jaina said abruptly. "There's really not that much else I can say on the matter."   
  
"All right. I understand all that," Brodey said, pursing his lips and nodding in agreement. "Why do you feel you need to beat yourself up twice over this?"   
  
"I don't follow you," She retorted, her gaze suddenly straying away from him and in the corners of her eyes he could see new moisture beginning to pool. He instinctively reached out with his hand and gently turned her face back in his direction. Tears sparkled in her eyes and she exuded an agony that he'd never encountered before from Jaina. It hit him with an overwhelming force, causing him to wrap his arms around her and hold her tight. Somewhere deep inside him was the reasoning that maybe if he smothered her with compassion he could quench the flames of pain that burned from the depths of her soul.   
  
He held her close for what seemed like forever, feeling her sobs ebb and flow like the tide. Finally they subsided, and he thought she was asleep. Brodey looked down only to have a pair of caramel eyes snap up to look at him.   
  
"You know, you can always come talk to Kyp or me if anything bothers you," He said softly, unconsciously stroking her hair. "I can't speak for Kyp, but I'll always be willing to listen to whatever you have to say. I know what it's like to have to hold everything in, and sometimes it's healthy to talk it all out."   
  
"Yeah," She said, finally separating from his hug and leaning back against the wall. "I guess what I'm most upset about is how Jag broke his promise to me. He said he wasn't going away. He promised. Now he's gone, and – " Jaina sniffed, her voice cracking. She hung her head, propping it up on her knees.   
  
"And what?" He asked as he reached out to touch her hand.   
  
"I don't think I can trust him anymore," She whimpered quietly, tears rolling down the contour of her cheeks.   
  
"Don't say that. You might actually come to believe it," He said seriously. "As far as I'm aware, this is Jag's first mistake in your relationship. I think you should give him the benefit of the doubt and chalk it up to him being male."   
  
"I wish I could just do that and everything would be fine," Jaina snorted. "But I feel so betrayed."   
  
"I know you feel betrayed, and I fully understand. I just think you should realize that Jag still loves you and didn't mean to hurt you."   
  
"I really want to believe you. I just can't see how the Jag I fell in love with would forget to tell me about something so important," Jaina argued.   
  
"He made a mistake. Either that or he knew you'd follow him there if he told you about it. He understands enough about duty to know that yours is right here with Twin Suns," Brodey speculated.   
  
"He still could have left me a note," Jaina said, sulking.   
  
"Jaina, for the last time, he's a male. We're by no means perfect," Brodey said with a smile.   
  
"Yeah, you're probably right," She said, slightly smiling again.

** Return to Jaina's Drunken Night main page**


	6. The Kiss

"I know I'm right," Brodey said smugly. "I'm always right!"   
  
He dodged the swing she took at him, laughing at the look of frustration on her face when she missed. Jaina retaliated with a few more accurate blows, knocking Brodey backwards onto the floor.   
  
"Aggression is the way – ugh! – of the dark side! Cut it out!" He pleaded with her, still laughing.   
  
She finally grew tired of that game and sprawled herself out on the floor right next to him, propping her head up on one hand.   
  
"You know, I'm kind of glad now that I got drunk," Jaina ruminated.   
  
"Why is that?" He asked, rolling onto his side to mirror her posture.   
  
"If not for me getting drunk then I would have never known you had a sensitive side. I would have just thought you were a big selfish jerk all the time," She said quietly, almost whispering.   
  
"Eh, I was pushing for one hundred percent but found that I could only achieve selfish jerk status for about eighty five percent of the time," Brodey joked, attempting to sound scholarly. "It's a big failure on my part. The rest of that time is filled with shameful mushy stuff."   
  
Jaina just smiled at him and shook her head. He noticed that the warmth that had been ever present in her eyes before that night's events was slowly being restored. If he didn't know any better he might have thought she was sobering up. She rolled toward him onto her stomach, still smiling as she used both of her arms as a pillow.   
  
"You know," She said, breaking the silence. "I don't know that many guys who are as sweet and caring as you. You shouldn't be ashamed."   
  
"I'm not," He said simply, shrugging his shoulders.   
  
"You know what else?" She asked, moving closer so their noses were almost touching.   
  
"What?" He asked, not sure anymore about where she was headed.   
  
"I never noticed how incredibly attractive you were," She said breathily.   
  
Brodey wasn't sure whether he'd heard her correctly, so he opened his mouth to throw another one-liner at her. Before he could make a sound he felt her lips pressing steadfastly against his.   
  
_'Oh gods,'_ He thought to himself. _'Kyp is going to murder me.'_

** Return to Jaina's Drunken Night main page**


	7. Impending Death

He tried to pull away but found it to be rather impossible. He wasn't sure if it was because her hand was now pushing against the back of his head, pulling him deeper into the kiss. Maybe it was due to the awkward and cramped position his body was in, wedged in between the toilet and the wash basin. Maybe he just didn't want to pull away.   
  
Jaina, however stuck-up and bratty she came across to him before, was indeed a beautiful young woman. It didn't take him long to realize he had a physical attraction to her. He just constantly reminded himself that it was purely physical. There was no deeper love there. There could never be. She loved Jag, and he respected that.   
  
_'Then why are you kissing her with such fervor when you know her boyfriend is coming right back?'_ A voice in his head rang out.   
  
Brodey wanted desperately to stop, but the feelings he was experiencing were immune to reason. The internal conflict raged on as he kissed her deeper, reaching out to caress her face. On one hand he was elated that the feeling of attraction was mutual. However, he wished, in the interest of escaping impending doom, that she'd never kissed him in the first place. Kyp would probably give him a good lecture and maybe shove him around a bit just to get the point of it firmly embedded into his thick skull. And Fel?   
  
Jag already didn't care too much for him. To Jag he was just an unrespectable, unredeemable scumbag.   
  
_'And if you continue to lock lips with his girlfriend he just might consider you an expendable scumbag,'_ The voice taunted.   
  
"No!" Brodey insisted, instantly pushing her away. "We can't do this."   
  
"Why?" She gasped, looking dazed.   
  
"Because it's all wrong, that's why!" He exclaimed in a flustered manner.   
  
"Then why does it feel so right?" She asked softly, reaching up to stroke her fingers along his cheek.   
  
"Stop it!" He scolded, batting her hand away. "That's just the alcohol talking, and you know it. You're in love with Jag. Even though he left you still love him. That's why you miss him enough to get drunk over it. Listen, you've got something great here. I couldn't invent a more perfect couple. Don't screw it up because of something you thought you felt when you were drunk."   
  
"All right," Jaina said, shrugging a little. "I just think I have a better understanding of my feelings than you do."   
  
"Oh you do? You, the drunk girl who vomited all over me a little while back?" He said, smirking at her. "I have a few words of advice for you, sweetheart. There are things about us that only other people can decipher accurately. You may feel that 'the two of us' is right, but you shouldn't trust your feelings while intoxicated."   
  
"What about you?" She asked curiously.   
  
"Pardon?"   
  
"Why did you keep on kissing me? You're not intoxicated, so I'll assume you acted upon your own free will. If you knew it was so wrong, why did you continue to kiss me?" She said, casting him an accusatory stare.   
  
He hesitated for only a second before an easy smile came to him.   
  
"I never claimed to be governed by logic," He said, grinning roguishly. "Besides, I was intoxicated, by your beauty."   
  
"Whatever!" Jaina snorted, smacking his shoulder once again.

** Return to Jaina's Drunken Night main page**


	8. Serenade

"Tired?" He asked as Jaina yawned widely.   
  
"Yeah, suddenly I feel like I've been running around non-stop for days," She sighed, lying back down on the floor and using the blanket as a pillow.   
  
"Well, I'll tell you what," Brodey suggested, grabbing the glass from on top of the wash basin. "You finish at least half of this and I'll let you go to bed."   
  
"Brodey, there's a lot in there!" She said with a worried look on her face.   
  
"Trust me, you can do it. Plus, you'll feel better in the morning," He replied reassuringly.   
  
"Oh fine!" Jaina cried, tipping the glass up to her lips. Brodey watched her as she slowly chugged what she could from the container. She gasped in between gulps and dribbled a little down the front of her shirt. Finally she looked at him with pleading eyes and he knew she could drink no more.   
  
"Ready to go to sleep?" He asked, smiling warmly at him.   
  
"Yeah," Jaina gasped, still trying to catch her breath. "I just have to go to the bathroom first."   
  
"All right, then go."   
  
"That means it's time for you to leave!" She said, shooting him a reproachful stare as she ushered him out the door.   
  
"Yes ma'am, almighty goddess!" He mocked, pulling a face.   
  
He waited outside her door and heard silence, then he heard Jaina growl in frustration.   
  
"Brodey, I can't go with you standing right out there! I need you to sing a song, or something!"   
  
"Sing?" Brodey scoffed. "How do you know for sure that I'm not a horrible singer?"   
  
"JUST do it!" She yelled.   
  
Brodey smirked, and then began to sing the first song that came to mind.   
  
  
_Every day and every night   
I always dream that you are by my side   
Oh baby   
Every day and every night   
Well I said everything's going to be all right   
And I'll fly with you . . .   
I'll fly with you. . ._   
  
  
"Very cute!" Jaina groaned as she swung open the door, giving him that signature lop-sided grin. "And you're definitely not a horrible singer. That undeniably resembled music."   
  
"If I didn't know how to sing, I wouldn't have done it. I'm not about to let my huge ego get trampled on by your goddessness," Brodey laughed, waggling his eyebrows at her.   
  
A loud beeping sound echoed down the hallway and interrupted their conversation.   
  
"Who would be calling on you at this time of the night?" Brodey asked curiously.   
  
"I don't know, but whoever it is, the comm can wait until tomorrow morning," She muttered, yawning again. "You can answer it, though."   
  
"I'll get you into bed first," He offered, holding her arm to steady her as they walked to her bedroom.   
  
After a few minutes of getting a still-drunk Jaina tucked into bed, he finally emerged back into her living room. He laughed to himself about how Jaina insisted on sleeping fully clothed because she was still kind of cold. He'd tried to explain that that's what blankets were for, but she would have none of that.   
  
Brodey looked over in the direction of the comm. The annoying beeping had stopped, but the little blue light over the transmission button was still blinking.   
  
Remembering that Jaina said he could answer her message, he reached out and pushed transmit.

** Return to Jaina's Drunken Night main page**


	9. The Message

The sullen image of Jagged Fel came into focus and he just stood there for a second. Finally, after making sure he was transmitting, Jag began to speak.   
  
"Jaina, I know you must be quite upset with me by now, but I figured an apology wouldn't hurt. I'm deeply sorry for running out without telling you where I was going, but I had private matters that needed immediate attention. As Kyp has probably informed you, I returned to Csilla to attend Shawnkyr's funeral. I'm sorry for calling you this late, but I just got back from the burial. You'll be very pleased to know that Shawnkyr's family has exonerated me from any sort of completion of her duty. They explained that they felt she had fulfilled her duty to the Chiss and to the galaxy. Needless to say, they're pretty liberal," He said, cracking a smile.   
  
"My father has also instructed me to come back immediately, since he recognizes my duty is with the Twin Suns Squadron," He said, smiling broader as a look of relief washed over him. "So don't worry about me never coming back. I'm there to stay, now."   
  
Jag turned his head to the side slightly, as if distracted from something in the background, and then looked forward again.   
  
"My father wants me in the next room. I love you sweetheart, and I bid you goodnight." Jag said, and the transmission went black.   
  
Brodey rubbed his chin, trying to hide his disappointment from no one in particular. Part of him was ashamed that he wished Jag would never return. He, like Kyp, wanted Jaina to be happy. He imagined the look on her face in the morning when she received Jag's message. Hung over or not, she would definitely be elated. Despite his obvious feelings about Jag, Brodey couldn't blame her. After all, he had made an honest mistake, if you could even call it that.   
  
Brodey smacked himself in the forehead as a striking realization came to him. Why did he always have to fall for girls that were already taken? He remembered the long nights spent in agony over C'aalnisa while she spent them being courted by his best friend Chaa'klan. Now he couldn't help but realize that the same thing was happening with Jaina.   
  
He gritted his teeth, forcing all thoughts of her out of his mind. He wouldn't allow himself to get hurt like that again. He laughed ironically as he considered that maybe his father had been right all along. An arranged marriage didn't sound so bad anymore. It was definitely a good idea for guys like him with shavit for luck.   
  
Brodey glanced over at the vomit stain on the carpet. It looked like it had almost soaked in, and it would surely need a lot of cleaning.   
  
"Heh," Brodey said morosely at the stain. "At least you desire my attention."

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